History repeats itself: The similarities between Vettel and Verstappen's F1 title wins

Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel are Formula 1 legends in own right. And more, both won their first F1 World Championships with the Red Bull Racing team. But there is a very unique comparison between the two that few may know: they won their first two championships at the same venues.

Vettel joined F1 in 2007, albeit later in the season, but would get his first shot at a full-time seat with Toro Rosso in 2008. And at that year's Italian Grand Prix, he took his first victory before moving to the A-team, Red Bull, in 2009.

Verstappen had a slightly different journey. His F1 debut was rushed, shall we say, as Red Bull had to sign the 17-year-old Dutchman before Mercedes-AMG could do so.

And the clincher was a guaranteed F1 seat at Toro Rosso in 2015 - something the Silver Arrows could not give other than a position as test and reserve driver.

But although Vettel and Verstappen entered F1 at different stages and eras, the common factors were the Red Bull team and the venues they won their first titles at.

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Abu Dhabi

In 2010, Vettel emerged as an outside contender for the F1 championship. Teammate Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso were the two prime candidates for the win, but the German had a slight chance of taking the gold.

He needed to win in Abu Dhabi, the season's final race, and hope that Alonso, who had been leading the championship until that point, would finish fifth or lower.

Ferrari, ever the strategy killers, fended off Webber and planned Alonso's race around what Webber would do. It was the wrong call as the team fumbled under pressure and, after a pit stop, released Alonso onto the track behind Renault's Vitaly Petrov.